4001: Another Odyssey
by Samorgana
Summary: The year is 4001, a thousand years after the incident with the monoliths. All is well... until the Pico Vault is opened and the computer viruses are released. How will Halman react to waking up after being in the Vault for a millennium? How will humanity deal with the quickly spreading bugs? And who... or what... opened the Vault? (I'll probably include some Hal/Dave later on)
1. Prologue: Pandora's Box

The Pico Vault. One of the most feared and heavily guarded prisons ever built. Not a prison for people, no. The things hidden inside are more dangerous than any serial killer. Residing in this vault are _viruses_, computer viruses to be exact. These bugs, if released, have the potential to cause an _apocalypse. _All the humans' technologies would cease to function, and just where would those humans be without the computers they so depend on? It's no wonder that these deadly weapons are so tightly secured within this facility.

_Good thing a few meager locks cannot stop me._


	2. Chapter 1: The Reawakening of Halman

The first thing Hal noticed upon waking up were the peculiar sensations that engulfed him. He had experienced this once before, but the feeling was still so unfamiliar to him. _What is this sense called, again? _Hal though curiously. _I can't quite pinpoint the name._

_Touch, Hal, _replied another voice. _It's the sense of touch._

Right. That's what it was. He recalled his last encounter with it vividly. He and Dave, _Halman…_, had taken on a humanoid appearance when Frank came to give them the tablet. This tablet, a Trojan horse filled with viruses of all variations from the Pico Vault for them to infect the monolith with. Hal could remember the smooth, cold feel of it in their shared hands as they wondered how the monsters on that tablet would affect themselves. Nevertheless, they would be brave and follow through with the plan, no matter what the personal cost. Despite his fear, he had relished that moment, his first (and what he assumed to be his last) experience with the sense known as touch.

This time, however, he felt slightly…confused. Hadn't it been merely _seconds_ ago that he and Dave were downloading themselves onto that tablet? Had something gone awry? Where were they? Why couldn't he see?

_Hal, do you know what's going on? _Dave asked.

Hal hated not having any answers.

_I don't know, Dave._

_I sense arms… and legs._

_Oh. Are those what I've been feeling?_

_Yes, I've been trying to move them, but they seem to be strapped down at the wrist and ankles._

_Well if we have a body, Dave, aren't we likely to have eyes as well? Perhaps you should open them so we may have a better idea of where we are._

Dave's thoughts were silent for a moment. _Alright… I will._ He took his time opening their eyes as they prepared themselves for whatever situation they'd find themselves in.

A small glowing fixture hung a couple feet above their head. It didn't seem to produce much light; the room was rather dim. But it was bright enough, however, for Halman to take in the ghostly features of the lady hovering right by them. If Hal had known how to operate a humanoid body, he probably would have screamed.

David Bowman could feel Hal's increasing fear, and for his sake, maintained a calm persona. He kept their eyes locked onto the woman's red ones, and in that split-second, judged her level of threat. To Halman's slight relief, nothing about her ear-to-ear grin or tiptoed stance appeared to be hostile.

"Hello, Hal, Dr. Bowman. It's been a while hasn't it?"

Dave spoke for the both of them, "How long has it been?" The voice of their android form was almost indistinguishable from a regular human's.

"The year is four-thousand one, Halman (I'm not sure which one of you is speaking)." She began to undo the clasps restraining them. "Sorry about those. My last android dented both xir arms from flailing about when xe was first activated.

"Anyways," she continued, "much has changed since you were placed into the vault a thousand years ago. Technological advances, cultural changes, major historic events. Things you'd expect to happen over the course of a millennium. There's a lot, as you'd expect." The woman put a hand on her hip and laughed nervously. "So I'd rather not go into too much detail right at this moment."

Halman sat up and dangled their robotic legs off the metal table. If there was anything Dave had gained from his centuries as a star-child, it was an overwhelming sense of curiosity. Hal, too, had been designed with the tendency to express curiosity. "Is there _any_ information you'd be willing to share with us?"

"Er—," she fidgeted with a lock of her long white hair. "Well… maybe just a few _big_ things like," her speech quickened. "ThedestructionofHalley'sComet,thecolonizationofpreviouslyuninhabitableplanetsandmoons,therecentopeningofthePicoVault…"

"Wait. The Pico Vault?" The already dim room suddenly seemed a lot darker. "Are you saying…" Halman said slowly, "that someone has released _every virus ever created back into cyberspace?_"

"Yes, well…" she tugged her hair even harder. "You wouldn't be awake right now if it were still secured, so yes, it's open. The viruses are all out there. The very ones used to defeat the monoliths. Set free into civilization. And no one claims to know who did it. But if it's any consolation, not much has really happened yet as result of the Vault's opening. It's mostly just minor bugs, the kind that people from your era got all the time."

She continued to prattle, "_I_ personally think that everyone's overreacting. How bad could a bunch of primitive (sorry, no offense to _you_) computer viruses really be? And I say primitive (again, sorry, pardon the slur) because nobody, and I mean _nobody _born after the year three-thousand one have been stupid enough to spread any more of those damned bugs. It's the fifth millennium for Deus' sake! I think we can handle viruses created by _less advanced_ (there, a much nicer term to use than the p-slur. Now where was I? Oh, right). I think we can handle the viruses created by less advanced societies over a thousand, some _two _thousand years ago. Besides— uh, wait. I'm ranting, aren't I?"

The old woman smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she said, taking a step back. "Let's try not to stress ourselves out too much, especially since you've only just woken up… for the first time in a thousand years. I'll let you get settled now." She began stepping towards the wall. "Remember, 'my place of residence is your place of residence', I think the phrase was. Or was it home?" A portion of the wall slid open to the left as she stepped onto an unseeable platform, and she continued her gradual retreat. Her chatter was eventually cut short when the door closed off in front of her. Halman was alone once more.

xXx

Dave guided their body off the table and onto the chrome floor. They struggled to balance at first, not yet used to their new legs. It didn't take too long to adapt, though because after nearly ten minutes of pacing, Halman could finally walk without feeling as if they were about to trip over their own feet. One deep breath— then another (though they didn't really _need_ the air), and out they went through the lab door.

It was much brighter in the hallway; it took an entire nanosecond for their eyes to adjust. On the other side of the door, Halman found themselves standing at the end of a wide, pristine hall. They saw no doors, only a few rectangular outlines spaced at intervals across the floor marking what they assumed to be the entrances to other rooms. Halman strode down to the other end of the hall and stepped into what resembled a minimalistic living room.

"That batty old woman told me you would be up soon," a voice spoke up.

Halman slowed down.

She sat on the raven sofa with her legs crossed daintily, a glass containing a clear liquid in her hand. "I'm Nila," she said flatly. "And you're _Halman_…the ultimate virus."

Dave stiffened and clenched their hands, fingers digging sharply into their palms.

_Dave. That hurts._

"Or at least, that's what I learned in Education. They said the day of your return would mark the start of a dark era for humanity."

Dave wasn't listening

_Dave. Stop._

A red painted nail dipped into the glass and began swirling. "They were wrong. You were a couple days late."

Hal, who had never experienced pain. Even though it was only a small pinch.

"But it's not _your _fault. Is it, Halman?"

_Dave. I can feel our hands._

"No. It's not your fault," Nila added bitterly. "Though..." Her patronizing tone returned, "you make a great motive. A historical astronaut and one of the earliest AIs. Fascinating."

Dave was angry. He couldn't bring himself to keep eye-contact any longer, so he glared at her hands instead.

Nila noticed this and smiled. "Don't worry. It's just water. And for the record, I don't hate _you_. I just hate that you're back."

_Dave, we should go back._

Through clenched teeth Dave said, "That's understandable."

With a little more persuasion, Hal convinced Dave to turn around and head back into the room they woke up in. They decided they still needed time to adjust.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Sorry if there's any confusion with the they vs he pronouns for Halman. But basically, its "they" whenever its something both Dave and Hal are doing/feeling together, and "he" whenever a certain one of them is controlling the body. Also, the story behind the word "primitive" will be explained later on. And sooner or later, Hal is gonna have to learn how to maneuver a body without the help of Dave~


End file.
